Sunsets with Wings
by Bob Snickerdoodle
Summary: AFTER FANG: Max thinks she's lost the love of her life, but is she falling for someone else? And why does she keep seeing him? This story is full of humor, action and love. FAX EGGY Still birdkids, still drama, humor and action and still sassy Max!
1. Pain, Stairs and Bombs

**A/N: Writing to me is like riding down a 30 story roller coaster while sipping a Mc. Donald's milkshake. Pure awesomeness. So I hope you can share some of that awesomeness-feeling by reading this story that I wrote. It's post-FANG so there's a bit of a spoiler in the beginning. So if you haven't read FANG, read it. Because all of the MR books are too good not to be read. Alright- now time for my story. Enjoy!**

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He was gone. Gone… _forever _according to him. Fang left and said he'll never come back. One year ago that would have been devasting. I would have lost my best-friend and second man in command. But now, now I've lost the love of my life and how do I handle it? I sit in my room and sob. Me, Maximum Ride, crying, locked inside my room. That was it.

_Get up, _I told myself. _This is not what a good leader does. When Fang left he said I was to be the best leader the group could have. He also mentioned I was pretty, funny, nice- and to _forget_ him! Grr… don't get sidetracked. The group needs you._

With that I stood up. My legs were a bit wobbly, as if I had just been on a long flight. I walked over to the mirror. God, I was a mess. My hair was a bird's nest (just to go along with the wings…) and my face was wet and red, from where I rubbed it. My eyes were puffy and pink. I picked up my hair brush, causing an envelope to glide off of it. Tears started to form in my eyes, but I ignored them and struggling to brush through my tangled hair do.

When I finished making myself look as casual as possible, aka if is I had _not_ been crying in my room for days, I opened my door. Nudge was slouching against the wall, sleeping. She was listening to her i-pod earlier. One of her earbuds was in her ear, the other on the floor. Fashion magazines were piled around her. She had been waiting for me to come out. Those butterflies that came so often when I was with Fang came fluttering back. I almost cried, I was such a wimp, but instead I sat down next to Nudge.

I took out her other earbud and wrapped the cords up. I stacked up the magazines and put the i-pod on top in a nice, neat pile and put in on the top of the stairs. Then I gave Nudge a faint, but meaningful hug. Her eyes fluttered opened, surprised. She tensed as if in danger (we're bird-kids, that's what we do when we wake up to find someone's arms wrapped around us) but smiled when she saw me. Then she hugged me back.

"Oh Max!" she said. "I've missed you sooooo much! So many things have happened. I gave Angel a makeover, she looks great! But then Iggy and Gazzy blew up my make-up kit and I got so mad! But the make-up was okay, of course, just the kit was broken. So now I don't know what to do with all the make-up. I tried putting them in a bunch of jars but Iggy got mad and said he cooks with them and I told him that it was his own fault he blew up my make-up so I-"

"Nudge," I said cutting her off. Seriously people, enough is enough.

"Right, sorry," she said. "How are you doing? Do you miss Fang a lot? I know I do. But it's different for you of course since you… you know, _loved him,_" – I was about to object, then realized it was pointless and only blushed – "I hope he comes home soon. I mean, he will come home soon. Please don't cry. Don't worry Max, we're here for you. All four of us, five if you include Dylan. Dylan's really nice Max. You don't have you love him, but, at least like him. He's helped out the group and all. He was really worried about you. He'll be thrilled that you're all right! Ooh, I should go tell him," she babbled.

I sighed. "Come on Nudge. Let's go downstairs first. You hungry?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Extremely!" announced Nudge, grinning. "Iggy promised he'd make a spectacular breakfast when you came out of your room. I'm going to go tell him." With that she charged down the stairs. Poor Iggy.

I walked slowly, gripping onto the rail for balance. Man, I felt like such an old lady.

"Need help?" asked Dylan, coming from behind me. Startled, I almost fell down the stairs. I wouldn't have minded help. From Fang. But from Dylan? I'd rather eat Gazzy's underwear.

"No," I replied. "I've walked down these stairs for the past _year_ I don't think I'll be needing any help from _you._"

Then I stormed away as angrily as I could with wobbly legs and down stairs. Then I _very_ angrily fell on my butt.

Mortified, I tried to stand up. But I couldn't.

"Max," said Dylan, sitting next to where I was sitting like a baby bird that just fell out of a tree. "I don't expect you to love me. You love Fang. I know that. Just, give me a chance to… help you. Be a friend. Please?" He smiled holding his hand out to me, his bright blue eyes glimmering and smile shining. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine. Not next to me.

He took my hand and helped me up. Reluctantly, I let him. "Thanks," I muttered, looking down.

"Anytime," he replied.

I stormed away from him and he didn't follow me. I turned the corner into the kitchen.

I looked around.

Iggy and Mom were crouched over the stove cooking something that would make Chef Cousine sit down and ask for a menu. Nudge and Angel were sitting at the table, cheek to cheek, reading some clothing magazine and pointing to it, exclaiming, "Ooh!", "Ah!", and "Can I have that?" Gazzy was sitting in the corner messing around with something round, black, and making ticking noises.

Since everyone was occupied, no one saw me as I slowly made my way over to Gazzy. I snatched the ball out of his hands and looked at it. It was counting down from 00:00:30, 00:00:29, 00:00:28!

"Hey!" Gazzy yelled, jumping up, causing everyone in the room to turn around, clutching the nearest object to them that could be used as a weapon.

"Really, Ella? An eraser?" I asked, looking at the pink cube she had in her raised hand.

"Hey, they seem to freak you guys out daily," she replied.

"Max!" Iggy yelled, "It's gonna blow! Give it back to the Gas Man!"

"What is this?" I yelled throwing the bomb back to Gazzy. "Your morning soduko?"

"Sorta?" he replied feebly. He had only 10 more seconds to figure it out.

"Iggy you are so dead if that goes off!" I yelled. "Throw it out the window Gazzy!"

"Max calm down!" he shouted back at me.

Calm down? Calm down! I just came out of my room for the first time in days, have the person I hate treat me like the elderly and I come down stairs to find my little brother desentangling a _time bomb? _And they ask _me_ to calm down?

"Now Gazzy! Or _she's_ gonna blow," informed Iggy to Gazzy.

"Fine," he said, disapointed. He flipped over the bomb and pressed a big red button with the word _Off_ on it. Oh, so I could have just turned it off? Great. More humiliation.

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't look at them. I had to go back upstairs. And maybe go find Fang.

But maybe I shouldn't.

What is with this? How could he do this to me? He left me. I should be mad at him. In fact, furious. What have I done to myself? These kids look up to me. They believe in me. They expect me to be their leader and all I've proven to be is a mental wreck.

Maybe I would go find Fang. But the reunion would not be like those in the Disney movies. Think more ninja warrior movies.

I turned on my heel and was about to walk back upstairs when-

"No, Max. Stop right there," demanded the Dark Angel, evolving from the shadows (remind you of a special somebody?).

I hate it when she reads my mind like that. But what right did she have over me?

"No," I replied sternly, walking. It was a strict no, a no that you didn't respond to.

"I know where he is, Max. And I know how you can get him back. But you can't, Max. You can't."

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**Why can't Max go? Where is Fang? What is Angel talking about? All that and more after this quick comercial break.**

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	2. Breakfast, Love and School

A/N: Has anyone ever noticed how **all sorts of thing in MR revolve around school?** Like people school. Like Elementary, Middle, and High? Like, for example, **erasers**. Erasers? Pink cubes? You use in SCHOOL! The **School**. Well. That one's too obvious to explain. M-**Geeks**. Geeks, Nerds. They live in school. Literally.

So think about that...

And special shout out to my virtual buddy and fellow book-lover **silent-ninja-twins**!

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"Angel!" Iggy barked at the demon child who I just happened to be the "not-legal-guardian-of".

"Well she has to figure it out eventually," she said, sitting down at the kitchen table, not looking at anyone.

What were they talking about? They all knew something I didn't. They were going to pay.

"What is going on?" I questioned. If it is something that involves my backstabber of an ex-boyfriend, then I wanted to know. Now.

But my mom had different plans.

"Max, don't get upset. We all have things that need to be discussed. We all know that, but first," she pushed a chair out from the table and put a plate of sizzling bacon, steaming eggs, melting buttery toast and a glass of cold orange juice at the spot in front of it on the table, "Breakfast."

I was about to say I wasn't hungry when my stomache let out a growl louder than a steaming train engine. Don't you just hate stomache acid?

"Fine," I mumbled, sitting down. There was a long akward silence. That is, until the Queen of Talking saved the day.

"I want breakfast too. Can I have what Max is having it smells deliscious! I mean, all but the eggs. I'm not really feeling eggs today. Maybe tomorrow. Yesterday-"

"Nudge!" Iggy snapped. "Here."

He handed her a plate piling with bacon, toast, and tator tots. Secretly, I wanted tator tots too, but I didn't ask. You know, being 15 and stuff.

Eventually everyone was sitting at the table. We had all finished eating, and for the first time in a while I felt full.

"Alright Max, it's time we tell you what's happened while you were- well, what exactly were you doing up there?" Ella questioned me.

Building a candy house. What do you think?

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter," Ella continued, uncomfertable under my glare. "So we're all still in good shape. Not much has really happened. Well except for that make-up explosion thing. But that was pretty funny act-"

I gave her a glare that read, "get on with it".

"And well," she looked at Iggy, and then quickly back at me.

"Oh no," I said, looking at Ella and Iggy, both of their faces blushing madly.

"Well, we-"

"They're in love!" Nugde shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

Ella and Iggy? Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming. Two teenagers, different genders, raging hormones, the figures stack up perfectly. But, how could they? After what I've just been through? I mean, I'm not jealous of Ella. 'Cause really, that'd be just plain weird. But, can't they see love hurts? I mean, it's beautiful at first. Too have someone to confide in completely, someone who sees what you see exactly how you see it, someone to protect you and love you and- wait, where was I? Oh, right. When all those good things go away you're left with a broken heart and more anger and confusion than any one person could cope with.

But then again, everyone had to experience love. Just because I wasn't so lucky with it, doesn't mean I couldn't give them a chance. If they wanted to put theirselves in complete vulnerablity to one another, then so be it, but I wasn't getting in the middle of it.

"That's great," I said with a smile, a fake smile I assure you.

I decided to ask about whatever Angel said about "him" later. They seemed happy and I didn't want to upset that. But they had a lot of explaining to do, I'll tell ya that much.

"Really?" Ella squealed. "That's great! 'Cause I didn't know if you were still upset or anything about, well you know."

"It's fine Ella."

"You are fine Ella," Iggy said with an Elvis accent.

The younger kids giggled and Iggy and Ella smiled at each other. Dylan shot me a smile that said "You're so perfect." I blushed. And I smiled back.

His blue eyes were so deep and dreamy, his hair so perfectly placed. Messy, but it such a hot and- Hold up. Oh no. I did not just say that. I hate him! He had no right to do that to me! Didn't he know he looked adorable over there? Oh no. I'm going insane! And even worse, Angel!

I looked over at the demon child who was smiling menacingly. She had read my thoughts. I sighed. It's funny how much of a family we are, but how much of a school we are too. I mean there are relationships, gossip and who knows what else. But you know what? I've never been a big fan of schools, in case you couldn't tell by the one I'm trying to destory and the one I try to aviod on a daily basis. So Angel's _rumors_ couldn't bother me. But her devilish little mind, with pots and couldrons boiling with evil plots and schemes to ruin my life? Yeah, those could bother me.

I glared at Dylan, who had just been gleaming like he was the man of the world, and now looked utterly confused and disappointed. Well, that's what he gets for messing with my head. You _don't_ mess with my head.

"Want to play a game of poker?" Angel asked.

Everyone knew not to play poker with a mind reader, so we all said our nos and not nows and maybe laters. Except for Nudge, Angel's best friend. And Nudge wonders how she loses money so quickly…

I thought about everyone and their best friends. I mean, there's Angel and Nudge, and Nudge and Ella, and Ella and Iggy, and Iggy and Gazzy, and Gazzy and Dylan, and Dylan and… if you're thinking I'm going to write "me" then you clearly don't know me.

If you're wondering about Gazzy and Dylan, then join the club. Gazzy was the first one of the six of us to get over Fang's departure (including Ella, not Dylan who got over it in about, oh I don't know, 30 seconds?). He seemed to really bond with Dylan since, well, Dylan was a bit more, oh what's a good word for this? Brighter, than Fang. And since Iggy is spending less and less time with Gazzy, and more and more time with Ella, Gazzy taught Dylan how to make bombs and explosions and whatever else 9 year old bird-boys do.

I watched Nudge and Angel play their little game of poker. Nudge was winning, but only because Angel was letting her.

Then my mom walked into the room.

"Kids, I have some good news!"

"What is it?" Ella asked, scooting away a smidge from Iggy.

"Well you know that new school that's being built down the street?"

Oh God.

"Well I enrolled you guys! I know how bored you must be around here, and I want you to have an education besides beating people up. And it might be a good distraction from… previous events. You start in two days!"

We all stared at eachother in shock; some of us furious, some of us estatic. Nudge would be part of the latter group.

"Oh Emmie Gees! Really? That's awesome! Can we go shopping for new school supplies? And clothes? And, ooh! We're gonna meet new people! Friends! Girls my age! Think they'll like me?"

"How could they not?" my mom said to Nudge with a smile.

"What about our wings?" I asked bluntly, with no emotion at all.

"I'll make you special sweatshirts! And you don't have a gym class either, so you don't have to worry about changing or being too strong or what not."

Wow. She really had thought of everything.

I stared at her in shock, and I was the only one upset. Everyone had smiles on their face. Except Iggy.

I could tell why. He was blind, for one. And he had enough experience to know that nothing good came out of things like this. But then there's Ella. It's summer now, but by tommorow it will be the start of the school year. Which means Ella-free days five days a week. I knew how he felt. There was no way he wasn't going.

There was no way out of this. I could tell them that there could be teacher Erasers, or principals from the School, but they'd come up with more excuses.

The thing is, I can handle bloodthirsty Erasers. I can handle power crazy lunatics trying to take over the planet. But one thing I can't handle? Drama crazy teenagers. And in two days I will go to the base of them all. High School.

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**Review and you'll get a free sundae from Iggy's Restuaraunt! **


	3. Waking Up and Facing Nudge

**So I'm practicing for the PULL project. I'm going to try and post every Friday. But, of course, the first Friday I try to do it my internet goes down. :( BUT HERE IT IS! It's really short compared to my other ones in terms of action but I've already got the next chapter written and I will post it sometime before Friday next week. Deal? Alright LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!**

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Ever been woken up from the best dream ever (yes, that dream does consist of shirtless Fangs and a lot of pie) only to appear in your worst nightmare?

I have.

"Max, Max, Max, Max, MAX!" Nudge shouted, shaking my shoulders and pulling down the covers.

It felt as if she'd pulled off my second skin. _I want those covers back _now_._

I would have yelled at her and scared her into letting me sleep for another hour (yes, I would go to those extremes just so I could sleep more. I'm just like that) but I couldn't find enough energy to produce actual _words._

It sounded more like this:

"Gerghtu myheghuh moughre seep. Nyom!"

"_Soooo_ not menacing, Max," Nudge said much to my disapointment. She started shoving on my sore shoulders again. "Come _on_! Get _up_! We have so much to do in _so_ little time."

I think I just got a migrane on her extensize use of _italics._

Still uncapable of speaking English (did you know that English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, yet the most widely used? The way this world works…) I looked up to her with a confuzzled face.

Confuzzled is my favorite made up word on the face of this earth, in case you were wondering. Just like gonna and wazzz up dawg?

I think the dictionary just had a heart attack.

Nudge sighed.

"_Shopping, remember?"_

I died.

Okay, maybe I didn't die. But I wished I had.

It was because I just realized three things.

**One:** I was going shopping.

**Two:** I had school the next day.

**Three:** I WAS GOING FREAKIN' SHOPPING!

I groaned.

"Do I_ have_ to?"

"You betcha," Nudge replied. "We have $300, 5 hours and 23 stores to go to! So get your butt up in five minutes."

I glared at her and sat up.

As she walked away, I grabbed the shirt nearest to me: A brown tee shirt with blood stains on the sleeves.

Without skipping a beat or even turning around Nudge warned me, "And don't even _think_ about wearing that lame excuse for a shirt."

I gaped in mock hurt and pure shock. But none the less I threw the shirt in the general direction of the hamper and shlepped over to my closet (Ever heard of that word? Shlepped? Well look it up in the Max-tionary. The dictionary died, remember?)

I walked downstairs in a simple outfit consisting of a random pair of pants, a random pair of shoes, and a random shirt. Can't you see how much thought I put into my outfit every morning? The pure devotion brings tears to my eyes.

Nudge was sitting at the kitchen table, looking through a brocure of some sort and rolled her eyes when I came down the stairs.

I raised my eyebrow. Yes, my _eyebrow_. My singular eyebrow. Just one. Bet it looked pretty bad-ass, huh?

"Your face is a mess," Nudge said blankly.

My jaw dropped. "Ex_cuse_ me?"

First my ugly shirt, now this, what did she want from me?

"Honey, you're going shopping today. In the _public,_ there's no way in _heck_ I'm letting you go to the mall without make-up. _Especially_ since your single," she said with a wink.

I gaped at her for the third time today. How could she just forget about Fang? Well, she probably didn't. But Nudge was definitely growing up, and the only things that seemed to be on her mind were boys.

"Nudge, I'm not looking for boys. In case you haven't noticed, the whole love thing isn't going too great over here in my life," I said. Then Nudge's face fell. What did I say?

"Join the club," she mumbled, looking down.

She was upset. What was she upset about? Love? Oh, I get it. _She_ wanted a boyfriend. Which means I have to talk to her. A girl to girl talk. Because we _all_ know how much I love _those._

"Nudge, it's okay," I said akwardly, patting her shoulder.

"No. It's not. It will never be okay. I'm never going to have a Fang or an Iggy. It'll always be me. Just me. Just Nudge. I'll never find anyone to confide in or to love and you know why?"

I looked at her blankly.

Oh! Answer. What do I say, what do I say? 'Cause, seriously, I don't think I want to know why she'll never be able to love somebody. I already do.

So I said my educated, highly professional, psychological, counseler- approved complex answer.

"Huh?"

"Because of these things!" she yelled at me, snapping out her wings.

"Nudge-" I started, but then the sounds of footsteps came stomping down the stairs. _Halleulah._

My mom and Ella were walking down the staircase. Well, my mom was. Ella was sprinting down them.

"Nudge! Nudge!" she called. "Are you ready to go shoOoOoOoOpping?"

"No!" shouted Nudge and she ran up the stairs, tears building up in her eyes.

We watched her charge up the stairs. I put my head in my hands. _Oh, God, why do you do this to me? Why?_

"Well," said Mom. "What was _that_ about?"

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**Did you like it? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Did you throw an icecream cone at it, throw it onto the street and run it over with a tricycle? What did you think? Tell me with a REVIEW! review, review... (that was echo-ness btw)**

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	4. Shopping, Food Troubles and Boy

**So first, I was having trouble updating once a week. Now two in one day? I must really love you guys... Or MAYBE that last chapter sucked and this one is ten times better- but I don't know.**

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"Nudge is having... girl problems," I explained to my utterly confused mom and sister.

My mom walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. She opened the fridge and took out a thing of eggs and a large family pack of bacon. Bacon... The bacon bag opened with a _pop_ as my mom opened it and then she threw about 20 pieces onto the pan on the stove. Then came the amazing sound of sizzling and the mouth watering aroma of cooking bacon. Yum...

"Nudge will come down soon," said my mom as the started to scramble up the eggs.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because if anyone can't resist the smell of sizzling bacon, it's Nudge."

"Very true..." I mumbled.

"So what are her _girl troubles_?" Ella asked. I was hoping she wouldn't ask that. But, as you can see, she did.

"She... she feels lonely..." I said. Not wanting to say anything embarrassing for either myself or Nudge.

"Oh... you mean?" Ella guessed. "She wants a boyfriend?"

"100 points to the girl in the pink shirt," I announced.

I can't believe Nudge was upset about _boys_ of all people.

Good old boys. Those people that come into your life, take your heart, and rip it right out of you like a sack of potatoes. Okay, horrible analogy. Ripping out hearts had nothing to do with a sack of potatoes, but I was hungry. And I felt like potatoes. Have a problem with that? I didn't think so…

The three of us were the only ones in the kitchen. I glanced at the clock on the microwave.

_8:45_ A.M.

_Huh, all the others are usually up by now._

"Where is everyone?" asked Ella, who stole the words right out of my mouth. "We're all supposed to go shopping for school clothes together. Even the boys."

"Well," my mom responded, "the boys weren't exactly too… thrilled about going to the mall for 5 hours so I told them I'd get them each a pair of pants and a fancy top. You'd think the fancy top would have swayed them. They must really hate the mall."

"Boys have a weird sense of enjoyment," Ella mused.

"Where are they?" I asked, concerned on the whereabouts of my flock mates rather than whether or not they like Ambercrombie and Fitch.

"They went to the roller rink downtown. Orbit I think it's called."

Dang. They get to roll around on shoes with wheels while I, on the other hand, have to push around a _cart_ with wheels. Oh _joy. _But, at least we didn't have to drag along three complaining boys. Not like I complained or anything, though.

"Mom do I _have_ do go?" I whined.

Okay... maybe I complained a _little_ bit.

"Yes, Max," said my mom as if I were a five year old.

"Grow up," Ella said, rolling her eyes. "It'll be _fun._"

Oh, yeah. As fun as taking a bath on Antarctica.

So apparently, when you go shopping at the mall you don't even get a shopping cart. Did they even _care_ about their customers?

Ella had talked to Nudge and convinced her into coming. She was a little quiet and crabby at first, but by the second store she was grinning from ear to ear and pointing at every little thing that glittered.

Angel, apparently didn't go to the roller rink with the guys. She had been outside. Talking to ants. Apparently if she doesn't come back before eight o'clock she's gonna miss her appointment with the Queen Ant. I don't even bother asking anymore.

"Ooh! Look! A dress store!" shouted Nudge.

"Look at the purple one!" exclaimed Ella.

"Ooh look at that fish tank!" Angel yelled.

"And it's all on half off clearance!" my mom announced.

"I'm hungry," I informed them.

They all looked at each other. We had just eaten breakfast back at the house and had picked up Mac. Donald's on the way and got five large popcorn's on the way in. Even for bird kids, I think they were stuffed.

"How about I go to the food court and you guys look in here," I told them.

"Are you sure?" asked Angel.

"Yeah, I'll just be down the hallway thing or whatever it's called," I said as they nodded and ran into the store.

I weaved my way through the crowded building, the sound of my mom telling them to stop acting like rabid monkeys fading away and being taken over by the sea of voices.

Ever notice that when you're in a crowded place everyone's yelling but, really, you can't hear a thing? It's like, all the separate talking makes it just one sound. You can't pick up just one conversation.

Thoughts like that keep me entertained for days. Then I see pie and everything changes.

I entered the large room. I found it partly by the smell of the deep fried foods, and halfway by the colossal sized sign about the size of ten trucks that said, "FOOD COURT HERE".

Good thing they didn't make it painfully obvious or something.

I walked along the large wall of vendors and restaurant places. Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Subway, Panda Express, Papa-

"Ow!"

"Hey!"

Suddenly I bumped into someone who was walking the opposite direction than me and fell to the ground.

"Sorry," I said to the person I bumped into.

I sat up and looked at the person across from me.

"No problem, it was my fault," he said, smiling a bit.

The boy was about my age. He had tan skin and deep brown eyes. His brunette hair had a slight curl to it. He had been holding a bags full of pink and purple shirt and floral skirts.

"Quite a fashion sense you have there," I remarked, helping him put the clothes back into the basket he was carrying.

He blushed.

"I have three sisters. They're quite the fashion queens," he said.

"Really? Me too," I told him. "They're in some sort of dress store right now."

"And why aren't you with them?" he asked.

"Stuffing myself into sparkly, cotton tubes isn't really my thing."

He smirked.

"Of course not."

I was about to ask why it was "of course not" but he asked me if he wanted to sit with him before I could ask the question.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, praying that the girls wouldn't come in here and say I was on a "date". Don't you miss the age where you can sit with a boy and just be friends?

"So how's life?" he asked me after he had come back with the food from Panda Express. We both had a craving for Chinese food.

"Could be better," I mumbled, leaning over the table and grabbing a bag.

He looked sort of put down by that and a little guilty.

"Not because of you- of course," I said quickly.

He did one of those one laugh things.

"You have no idea," he said.

"No, really," I insisted, "It's just that my... friend... left me a while ago and it still kind of hurts."

"I'm sorry," he said. Then he said quietly, "I truly am..."

"Don't be," I commanded him. "Tell me about your sisters."

"Well," he started, taking a bite of an egg roll.

We talked about everything. Sisters, movies, even what would happen if the world had been taken over by llamas.

I was in the middle of laughing when I took a glance at my phone.

12:30!

I had been gone for almost two hours!

The boy seemed to have the same thought at the same time I did.

"I've got to go," we said in unison.

We both laughed.

"Hey- what's your name?" I asked him.

"Ah... Um... J- Josh," he stuttered.

Weird. He hadn't been nervous all afternoon and he stutters when I ask him his name? Creepy.

"Well, bye Josh," I called, walking away to throw out my tray.

As I walked back to where I last saw my family the only thing on my mind that boy. Josh.

He was different than other boys. He didn't care about being strong or manly, but he wasn't weak and girly, either. He was natural. He was funny and sweet. But there was something about him that was... off. Something he wasn't telling me. I could sense it.

And the weirdest part of it all: I felt like I'd known him my whole life. I know, I know, it's like something you read out of those corny romance novels, but it's true.

And then I realized something. I'm never going to see him again.

I'd never even told him my name.

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**I know, I know, you want to kill me. She met a boy. Not Fang. And she likes him. Maybe. Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuunnnn.**

**But maybe YOU know what's ACTUALLY going on... **

**SO TELL THE WORLD WITH A REVIEW!**

**Right here**

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	5. Explainations, Old Ladies and Billboards

**A/N: So this turned out to be a really long chapter. Better for you guys, I guess! Hope you like it as much as I like pie.**

**A/N: So, today, when I was looking at the MR Archive page on FF there was an add for a fax helper thing! You know you're a Maximum Ride fan when you laugh at that. Did any of you guys see that add?**

**Alright-here's your chapter. Hopefully the next one will be up soon!**

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I finally found the three exhausted shopping queens sprawled out on a bench in the middle of the mallway (a mix of hallway and mall. Creative, I know).

I decided to corner them there. Yesterday morning Angel had said something about F- "him". (see I can't even_ think_ about him!). She said she knew where he was or something. And she didn't tell me. I'd given her far more than enough time to fess up. Apparently she was going to need a little influencing.

"Hey guys what's-"

"Max where have you _been?_" asked my mom, coming in from behind me.

"The food court..." I answered, confused. "Why?"

"We _checked_ there! You weren't there!" she shouted. I looked around to see if anyone was staring. No one was. Well, except for those old ladies. Stalker old ladies. Creepy. "There were no tables with only one person, aka _you_, sitting at them! Every table was either occupied by more than one person or no one at all. So either you were invisible or you were sitting with a complete stranger- and knowing you, neither of those choices are likely!"

Wow. She had said that all in one big giant breath. Now _that's_ pretty impressive if you ask me.

But she was right. I had just sat down and ate lunch with a complete stranger. But, I mean, if it had been a _dangerous _stranger, I would have known. I'm Maximum Ride. I can tell if a person is planning to kill me. I've met _far _too many of _those_ types of people in one lifetime. And Josh definitely wasn't sending out dangerous vibes. Heck, he was more like sending out the opposite.

But I don't think me telling my mom that I sat down and ate lunch with a complete stranger because he had_ friendly vibes_ would bode well in the Mom-i-world. So I had to think of a lie, and fast.

"I had to use the bathroom," I lied smoothly.

"Oh," she said with an uncomfortable laugh, then she laughed more, fully smiling and realizing her "mistake".

"You have nothing to worry about," I assured her.

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted, then she hugged me. "I was just so worried something happened."

I smiled, relieved that she believed me.

"Hey, Angel," I called once my mom released me. "Want to go check out that new toy store down there?"

"Sure!" she said, bouncing up off the bench. She didn't buy many clothes since she was too small to want to wear any of the clothes from the stores that Nudge and Ella shopped at.

My mom was already getting up to follow us when Ella whined, "Do we _have _to?"

"No!" I answered for my mom- much too quickly. She looked at my quizzically. "I- uh- I wanted to get something for you guys. It was supposed to be a surprise. But it's not now. Oh well... Come on Angel let's go."

"So why didn't you tell her about the boy?" Angel asked, turning around mid step once we were a safe distance away from my mom.

"How did you- oh," I accused, but then I realized I had a _mind reader_ as a Flock member. Sometimes minor details like that slip by sometimes. How? I do not know.

"You like him, don't you?" she interrogated.

"I do not!" I cried.

"Oh yes you do," she replied. "You might even- _love_ him."

"I never said that!" I proclaimed. "I never even_ thought_ that."

"Oh but you thought thoughts that were like those in "corny romance novels". Which means you had thoughts about _romance."_

I glared at her.

"I have other thoughts too," I said, snidely. "And the ones about you and your mind reading are _quite_ violent."

"Okay- okay!" she yelled, holding her hands to her head. "That's gross! STOP!"

I stopped thinking about my evil plans. But, sadly, my empty mind switched straight to Josh.

"Ha!" she yelled. "You're thinking about him! Subconsciously, too."

I looked at her confused.

"It means you think about him in the back of your mind and when you sleep."

"Oh... Well... Darn it. Well maybe I do think about him a lot. That doesn't mean I _like_ him. Maybe I'm just confused about the way he was acting. But you know what? If anyone should be confessing right now it's you! What were you talking about yesterday about Fang?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I just- well, the Flock. We were planning on going and finding Fang."

"What? When?"

"When you were moping upstairs. Duh."

I glared at her.

"Anyways, we were planning on finding him. All by ourselves. We couldn't risk taking you along with us being in your- condition."

"And the not bringing me along part was your idea- wasn't it?"

"You were an emotional wreck, Max. You'd think I,of all people, would know _that_."

I grunted.

"Go on," I told her. "Explain to me why you didn't leave me here all alone to my miserable self."

"Well Fang's blog is down! It's finished. Gone. Disappeared. Just like him. Now there's some new blog on his old page. I didn't catch who's it was- but it doesn't matter. All we know is that there's no way to find him now. With you or without."

I tried to keep the tears from building up in my eyes. She had just accused me of being an emotional wreck- I didn't want to prove her right. But she'd just mentioned how he's gone and how there's no way of ever finding him. I decided to switch my sorrow to resent. How could they think that they could go and find Fang by themselves? They needed me! They could have killed themselves!

"But, Max," Angel protested. "If you came you would have been such a mess that you would have been a safety hazard rather than a leader!"

"Nice to know that's how you think of me," I mumbled, turning around and walking back towards the girls.

"You need to get something for me and for them, I guess, or they'll get suspicious, you know," she reminded me.

I sighed.

"I know," I snapped turning around.

"No you didn't," she replied sweetly.

"Shut up," I said.

We walked into the store. Angel eventually got a pink dog/ flower. She thought it was "adorable". Personally, I thought it was wickedly scary. But whatever, that was her choice.

I got matching purple and pink bracelets for my mom, Ella and Nudge. They were the cheapest things I could find.

As we walked out I noticed two things.

First: Josh was standing across the mallway. He wore a freaked out face and his eyes widened when they met mine. Is it bad that my heart beat quickened when I saw him?

And second: You know those stalker old ladies I was talking about earlier? Yeah, they were slowly walking towards me and Angel. And their noses were slowly morphing into dogs muzzles.

"Stalker dog-ladies two o'clock," I whispered to Angel.

She quickly glanced at the freaky old geezer-etts and we ran.

"Erasers behind us!" I yelled to my mom and the girls when we passed by them. I grabbed Nudge's hand and she quickly got up and ran with us.

"You guys go home!" I called to them. "Meet you there!"

I barely heard Ella's call over the screams of people and shattering of objects that _we_ managed to dodge, but Eraser old ladies couldn't.

"Don't be bringing home any guests!" she warned.

I managed to smile even though I was running faster than a cheetah on helium.

"Second turn on your left!" Angel shouted.

We both knew that what Angel had really meant was to take the second turn on the _right_ because we've been over how to get out of situations like that. We're just that awesome.

We dodged into the second store on our right. Turns out it was an exit. I wonder how Angel knew that. The Eraser ladies had charged straight into a Victoria's Secret. I barely held in a laugh.

We were in an abandoned alleyway.

"U and A in three, two," I shouted.

And with that we shot into the air.

I took one last glance at the ground. Turns out the alleyway wasn't abandoned. There was a photographer down there, his camera propped into place.

But just before I turned my head to make sure he couldn't see my face, I saw someone else.

Guess who.

You got it.

Josh.

His face wasn't bewildered or freaked, though, unlike what would have expected. Instead, he had a sense of longing on his face.

That boy was confusing.

I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and basked in the glory of flying through the air.

Do you know how amazing it feels to fly in the open sky after shopping for five hours?

Well let me tell you, it feels pretty darn good.

I looked down. I loved the view from the sky. It makes you feel... powerful.

The buildings were just brown old squares, the cars were just toys and the people were just ants. But we- we were almighty eagles. Soaring through the sky. Relaxed in the warmth of sun. Our wings outstretched and beating to the same rhythm as each others. Looking down on our pray. No one could stop us.

I was grinning in the midst of my thoughts, looking down on the town below us, and I did a little dive towards the ground when all of a sudden something hit my head- hard.

"Ow!" I shouted.

I looked around. My head had gone straight through a billboard!

Angel and Nudge came soaring down when they heard me call out. But then they took one look at me and started cracking up, doing laughing somersaults in the air.

"Shut. Up. Now," I commanded, highly humiliated and furious.

Sadly, I couldn't fly backwards, so I had to use my arms to pry my head out of the billboard.

"I didn't know they _made_ those things that high up," I complained.

"M-Max," Angel shouted between giggles. "L-look at the b-billboard you ran into."

I turned around and couldn't help but silently laugh. The billboard had read:

Super Bird Food for Super Birds!

"That's the stupidest add I've ever seen!" I cried.

"You shouldn't be calling _anything_ stupid right now, Max," Nudge told me.

I glared at her, but smiled.

"Come on guys," I announced with a sigh, "Let's go home."

I needed some rest after a long day like this one. After all, tomorrow I was going to the worst place mankind had ever invented. High School.

_I'm going to hate tomorrow more than anything in the world, _I thought. Turns out I was dead wrong.

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**A/N: That was the longest chapter so far. SOOOOO what'd you think of it? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! IF YOU ARE READING THIS TAKE ABOUT TEN SECONDS TO WRITE A REVIEW. Even if it's just three words (like, I love pie). REVIEW! ALRIGHT? OKAY!**

**A/N: So I was messing around with spell check and it's really weird. So if anyone can tell me what anyone these words mean, do it!**

**Sdsdf- Gadsden**

**Snickerdoodle- Sanctimonious**

**Dolittel- Dolomite**

**And have an AWESOME Thanksgiving for all of you who celebrate it! For those of you who don't, then have a happy weekend! :D**

**And don't forget to REVIEW!**


	6. Old Ladies and Garden Gnomes

**So I tried to add some comedy and to use some new techniques with comedy. So I hope you like it! I wasn't going to post this chapter but I decided it was about time to post a new chapter and at least it's funny. I've already got the next two chapters planned out so stay tuned!**

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"That's _it_ Ella!" I cried, putting my hands up in defense as she tried to hand me yet another bright pink outfit.

"But _Max_," she pleaded, "This is the _last _one!"

"That's what you said for each of the five _other_ outfits you made try on," I mumbled under my breath.

"And trust me," she said, not hearing my comment or completely ignoring it, "This one is the _cutest!"_

"_Right_, I'm sure it is, but if you make me wear that shirt, I will most likely throw _up_ on it."

"You really don't like it that much, huh?"she asked, holding it up.

"Ella I don't care about fashion. I have bigger things to worry about."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Like what?"

"Well-"

"MAX! IGGY JUST BLEW UP THE NEIGHBOR'S GARDEN! HE IS IN SO MUCH TROU- OW! DON'T HIT ME WITH GARDEN GNOMES! I'LL HIT YOU WITH GARDEN GNOMES! GET BACK HERE! THIS POINTY LITTLE SUCKER IS GOING TO BE THE END OF YOUR LIFE!"

"Like that," I answered, with a tight smile as she rolled her eyes.

"Have fun," she called as I ran down the stairs.

I looked around. Angel and Total were lounging on the couch and I was choosing to ignore the blazing yard of our neighbors for the time being.

"Where's mom and Nudge?" I asked her.

"They went to a little neighborhood get-together. We have new neighbors and all. Apparently they have prize winning garden gnomes," she answered with a smile.

I sighed as I walked over to the fire extinguisher. Well, fire extinguishers. Mom finally had some common sense and bought about 30 fire extinguishers. It was Iggy's early birthday present.

"You'd better watch out!" I cried, charging out the door. "This thing is gonna be used on more than just fires!"

"Ahh!" yelled Iggy, running away, Gazzy soon followed behind him.

I sighed as I slowly put out the large fire.

_Why do I put up with this,_ I thought.

But soon I found myself thinking about Josh again.

We had gotten along so well. I mean, he was the first person I got along with since I've left my room. Then he was there when the erasers came, and he wasn't freaked out when we spread out our wings.

That's it! He was _there when the erasers came_ and he _wasn't freaked out when we were flying away._

I dropped the fire extinguisher. _Josh was evil._

I slowly walked around the yard, my head now a mess, stringing together possibilities. Apparently the fire had only caught to the small fence that was outlining their garden, so most of the vegetables and plants were safe. The gnomes were mostly safe, except for the ones that had been touching the fence.

They were pretty nice looking gnomes. I mean their hat color always matched their eye color, which really brought out their eyes. Their little white beards looked perfect on their little round faces. If I were a female gnome, I'd definitely date one of these guys. Probably one of the green ones. And then we'd have a little baby gnome. And name him George. He'd probably be a little blue gnome. With wings.

…

Wo. I have _strange_ thoughts when my head is a mess. Let's just pretend that you_ didn't _read the above paragraph. K?

Alright.

"Mmm... Do I smell nachos?" asked someone from inside the house. I was still in the middle of the garden. Panicked, I looked for a place to hide. I mean, it wasn't _me_ who did this. But who are old ladies most likely to believe ruined her lawn? The 15 year old girl in their back yard, or two boys they'd never met before that were deep, deep in the forest? If you chose choice A, you'd be correct.

I quickly took coverage behind a blueberry bush and a deer figurine. Man it was muddy down there. I squirmed away from some of the bugs. Look, I'm tough, but I'd rather_ not_ get bit by a spider today thank you very much.

"Oh my word!" exclaimed an elderly woman with short curly blonde hair and glasses that rested right on the tip of her nose. We shall call her old lady #1, from this point forward.

_What's that tingling__ feeling in my foot? Stupid foot must be falling asleep._

"What is it dear?" asked a bald man with a wavy voice who rolled up next to her in his wheelchair.

_Come on foot. Wake up, _I thought, shaking it vigorously.

"The yard, Henry! The yard!" she cried.

"Yes, it's beautiful, darling," he replied, rolling away. Must be blind.

_Oh my God, the tingling feeling's going up my leg!_

"No, Henry! It's ruined!" she exclaimed nearly in tears.

By this time two other elderly ladies came to her sides. Otherwise known as old lady #2 and old lady #3.

"Goodness gracious!" cried old lady #2.

_THERE'S AN ANT IN MY PANTS!_

"What's the matter?" my mom's voice called from the kitchen.

"You must come see it Val!" called old lady #3.

_It's going up my thigh, it's crawling up__ MY THIGH!_

"Terrorist attack! We're being attacked!" shouted old lady #2 as she ran around in circles, eventually hitting a wall and falling over. I would have laughed but I was having troubles in my pants. Yes, I know, that would have sounded very wrong out of context. Grow up.

"Goodness, Casandra! Are you all right?" asked old lady #1, bending down to help her up. "Oh God, my back!"

Then she fell over in the midst of clutching her aching back.

_Oh. My. God. THERE'S AN ANT ON MY BUTT! THERE'S AN ANT _ON _MY BUTT!_

"Terrorists?" asked old lady #3, turning around and tripping over old lady 1 and 2 with a loud thump.

_Phew. It's out of my pants. IT'S CRAWLING UP MY BACK!_

"Ladies are you al- oh my! What happened?" asked my mom, looking at the heap of old ladies on the floor.

"Ow..."

"My back..."

"Me denthures!"

I shuddered. _It's on my NECK! This is stupid ant is on my NECK!_

"What happened to the yard?" my mom asked. "You didn't try grilling again, did you Henry?"

_It's crawling across my FACE! I can see __it!_

"No!" exclaimed Old Man Henry, putting his hands up in defense.

"Oh, no,"she said with a sigh, finally realizing the cause of the mess.

_Man those are some _hairy_ legs, you've got there._

"I know who did this," said my mom.

_You've got some pretty __cool antennae, too._

"Where are you hiding, boys?" she asked, slowly walking around the yard.

_I think I'll call you Bob._

"Mom, what is it?" called Nudge, walking onto the deck, carrying a large bowl and a spoon.

_Did she just call her... mom?_

_OH MY GOD IT'S ON MY NOSE._

"Umm... those trouble neighbors, ah, wrecked the yard again," said my mom, giving her a glance.

"You mean-"

She nodded.

_It's just sitting there. GET OFF MY NOSE YOU IDIOT ANT._

"Come out, come out where ever you are…" she called menacingly, grabbing a gnome for defense.

I completely ignored the fact that my mother was in full-on creepy mode and was more focused on the fact that there was a hairy bug on my nose.

"AHHH!" I screamed as I stood up and ran out from behind the figurine.

I whacked my nose- hard. In fact, a little_ too_ hard.

"OWW!" I cried, my hand dripping with nose-blood and ant guts.

In the few seconds that I had my ant-outburst my mom had failed to realize that the person in the neighbor's yard was me- and not Iggy or Gazzy.

She ran up behind me and whacked me in the head with the gnome. And you know what I realized in the few seconds before I passed out unconscious? Yep. You got it. It was a green gnome.

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**So what do you think I'm going to say now? If you thought I'd say "REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW" you'd be correct. If you thought I'd say "I love Justin Beiber" you would be dead wrong. I'm sorry. You lose. Go home. Unless you're already at your home. Then stay there. Oh yeah. I just went there. Not to your home. I mean, it's just a comment. Like I just pwned you. Like- you know what? Nevermind. Just review.**

**Because reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Like moldy smores. Yummy.**

**(.)_(.)**

**So- just review. It's not that hard. And I'll love you forever.**

**Oh! And check out my other story! I've got some REALLY cool ideas for that story! But it's written at the end of the first chapter. SO CHECK IT OUT!**


	7. Visions, Dreams, Iggy and Total

**Sorry for the long, long, long, long, long, long, long wait guys. But, consider this a late Christmas present? Lame, I know. If anyone told me that my Christmas present was a chapter of a random story I wouldn't be too excited either. But hopefully you'll enjoy it either way!**

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**"Max? Max?" came a voice from above me.

"God?"

"No, Max, it's me, your mother."

"Oh," I replied stupidly. "Nice to see ya, you know, after you whacked me in the head with a garden gnome."

"I'm sorry, hon."

"You thought I was Iggy, right?"

"Right."

"So... you would have whacked Iggy in the head with a garden gnome?"

She laughed.

"Yup."

Sometimes I can't help but love my mom.

"Now I know you've been through much, much worse, and, at first, I was confused why someone like you would pass out because someone as weak as me whacked you in the head with a garden gnome, but then I figured it was the variable of surprise."

"Oh, okay. So I can get up now?"

"No, stay. Whatever the cause, you passed out and you need some sleep."

I sighed and was about to argue when I let out a loud and dramatic yawn.

"Fine," I mumbled.

She left the room and the door closed with a _click_.

I rolled over and looked out the window. To my surprise I saw Josh- hovering right outside my house!

I rubbed my eyes and looked again, hoping it wasn't a dream.

And, sadly, it seemed like it was.

He wasn't there any more.

I groaned and rolled over again. Confused, and with a horrible headache, I fell into a restless sleep.

_Fang? Fang, is that you?_

_"Yes, Max," replied the dark and handsome figure, "I've come back for you."_

_Oh, Fang I've missed you so much!_

_"Come to me, Max," he commanded._

_I followed the voice, the dark deep voice of my lover, when all of a sudden he jumped out at me._

_Fang, no!_

_His eyes flashed red and his face was devoured in warts, his wings were larger, and raggedier and uglier, then I'd ever seen them before. And his hands, his hands had claws, shooting right out of his knuckles._

_"It's okay, Max," he told me, "It's still me."_

_No! No it's not! But it is. I love you Fang, but who are you?_

_All of a sudden another figure shot out of the darkness and jumped onto Fang. He scratched him and punched him._

_I yelled and yelled for him to stop, but I wasn't able to speak, my words just muffled into the air._

_Then the figure stopped and stood up, leaving Fang dead, on the ground._

_The figure turned to me and I saw his face._

_Josh._

I woke up with a start and rubbed my sleepy eyes. The blinking clock to the left of me flashed 2:30. Only three and a half more hours until the same clock would explode with noise and, hopefully, wake me up from the sleep I was about to fall into. And, yes, I did figure all that time and math stuff _without_ ever really going to school, thank you very much.

But I decided against falling back to sleep, for just the thought of being awoken by alarms- the very sounds I heard the day we escaped the School- didn't excite me what so ever.

I dragged myself out of bed and reminded myself that I'd done much more with much less sleep. I was still Eraser-fighting, bad-guy-butt-kicking, awesome-world-saving Max. Wasn't I?

I shook my head and pulled on some clothes. Me and Ella had a debate along the lines of this:

Ella says pink, I say black, I wear blue.

Ella says ruffly shirt, I say tee shirt, I wear cute sweatshirt.

Ella says jeggings, I say boot cut (even though I didn't know what that meant until she showed me a sign), I wear skinny jeans.

Ella says sparkly ballets flats, I say sneakers, I wear Ugg boots (which I personally don't understand, but don't mind because they're comfortable and easy to move around in).

And so my outfit had been picked out the day before and I slipped it on.

Soon after brushing things such as my hair and teeth I headed downstairs to grab something to tide me over until breakfast.

I flipped on the kitchen light- and to my surprise, Iggy was sitting at the kitchen table.

I gave out a little yelp at the sight of another person being up this early- breaking the deathly silence that had dominated the house.

Iggy yelped back, but then realized it was me and said hello. He probably wouldn't have yelped if he wasn't blind. Some things, like Iggy's sight, just weren't right. And all because of power hungry evil scientists. Yes boys and girls, they exist.

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same question," he rebutted.

"Touche."

I walked over the coffee machine and was surprised to see it was on.

"You drink coffee?" I asked.

"Nah," he said, "But you do."

My jaw dropped- because of two things.

One: I didn't think anyone knew of my little coffee fetish.

And two: If he wanted to make coffee for me- he should have started around six o'clock, not now. Not unless he knew I would wake up now.

"Did you- how'd you- I don't- thanks," I stumbled, eventually just giving up.

"I couldn't sleep either," he explained. "Didn't know why. Though, I think I know why now."

"Why?" I asked, "Why can't we sleep, just because we're simply going to stupid school?"

"Well," he replied, "We're going to a place we've always avoided our whole lives. Not because it's dangerous or anything- but because it's what normal kids do. And us, we're not normal. So we've set ourselves up to believe that we don't belong there- or it's dangerous, when really, it's not, and we'll be fine. Considering you can handle the... drama. And the... emotions."

He smirked at me, not looking me in the eyes though, which I'm totally used to, but I noticed it more then.

His eyes never affected him much in terms of destroying Erasers or demolishing evil scientist hide-outs, or had it? I guess we'll never know- but if anyone had anything to worry about- it was Iggy.

See, if I had to take a guess, these would be the things that were going through his mind about things that would trouble him in school:

-Being blind.

-Not having anyone but the great-looking Dylan to show him around (Thanks, Fang.)

-The chances of being eaten by mutant creations designed to destroy us.

I mean, I don't know if that'd trouble _you_, but it'd bug me_ lot._

We shared a glance, like the kinds me and Fang used to share, and no more words were needed.

We sat in silence until everyone else woke up.

I watched as Iggy prepared breakfast for six bottomless-bird-kids, one human teenager, and one mother of two, but technically seven, without one word of complaint.

He handed us the food.

"Thanks, Igg," I thanked him.

He nodded in my general direction and sat down.

We all ate and, since the bus stop was right outside our house, listening intensively for the bus.

Ella sat casually at the table, but looked out every minute or so for the bus. I watched her, as soon as she left, I would too. That's basically what we were all doing except Angel and Nudge who had finished breakfast faster than I'd ever seen them do before and sat by the window anxiously.

Total sat by the window on the other side of the window.

"Roof," he said, coming out of the obnoxiously large dog-house he shared with Akila for the first time in days. I don't want to know what those dogs were doing in there, thank you very much.

"What?" we all asked.

"Well," he said, "After marrying, which none of you have had the maturity to accomplish yet-"

Nudge and Ella glanced at me knowing I was still getting over Fang and the fact that we would... never see each other again. Leaving us no room to get married. Total seemed to think I could handle it and he continued on without stopping. But I put in this paragraph so technically it's a pause, but just pretend like it wasn't, 'k?

"I've decided that it was very not gentlemen like to bark like a cave-dog around you people when it is not necessary-"

At that moment Akila barked something from the backyard to him. Aggravated he quickly barked something back and turned back to us.

"Never mind that," he continued, "Anyways, I said 'roof' in English because average dogs are supposed to bark when they see large yellow vehicles driving down the street."

We looked at each other and in a second it was as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button. We were eating, putting on coats and grabbing bags faster than you could say, "Hey, Mom, they look like jack rabbits on helium!"

Seconds later I was on an unknown vehicle heading straight to one of my worst nightmares.

Lucky me.

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**Well, she's kissed Fang before so yeah, lucky her. **

**Maybe only silent-ninja-twins knows this- but a own a mini Max... She's very upset with where this story is going- so if any of the A/N's look weird, it's from her. Thanks.**

**Review?**

**(I know usually I have a creative bribe or something to get you to review but now it's only one word. But maybe my faithful readers & reviewers will stick up for me even in times of creativity-lacking-slash-lazy-ness... Yeah... So, uhm... I'm babbling. I do that a lot. So... This is kinda akward... Uhm... What's up?)**


	8. Friends, Enemies and Syrup

**A/N: So it's been a long, long, _long_ time since I've updated but worry not- I have not forgotten about this story (hence the reason this chapter is being posted). And I promise you, this chapter will bring you the action and comedy the last one was lacking. So sit back and enjoy the read. (See what I did there? … You know you're impressed.)**

**Oh yeah- and if there's any issues with this chapter tell me and I'll edit out my mistakes. BECAUSE NO ONE LIKES MISTAKES! :D**

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For those of you that are under the age of five or for those of you that are home-schooled- stay there. I mean it. School is _not_ worth it. I mean, by the time I got out of it I had a new reputation, syrup all over my shirt and several new friends and enemies. That's too much for one day I'll tell you! Let me explain...

After I got off the bus (which consisted of sitting next to girl who couldn't speak anything but Chinese, and being forced to inhale fumes more nauseous than the ones that leave Gazzy's rear end) I was done with school for the rest of my life. But Ella had _other_ plans.

Evil, evil, evil plans that involved the forbidden art of socializing. And get this- she wanted me to talk to these people as if they _weren't _out to kill me. Who did she think I was? The president of the peace-corps-society?

Anyways, when we entered the big building she lead me to a table to introduce me to her friends. There were four of them- and immediately I resented two of them because of their straightened dyed blonde hair, shirts that covered less than a wash towel would and their shorts that looked like underwear. Where was Nudge when you needed her? She hated girls like that.

"Hey guys!" Ella called, walking up to them, dragging me along by my wrist. "What's up? This is my sister- Max."

I gaped at her. She had used my real name! What if these girls were secretly Erasers? Then they would recognize my name, calculate my face with their records, kill me and then the world would fall into chaos and explode!

She glanced at me warily.

"One second," she told her friends.

"What?" she whispered, urgently, standing a few feet from the table.

"The world's gonna explode!" I told her, truthfully.

"Max," she scolded me, disappointed, "Can you just meet people without making up lame excuses?"  
"It's not-"

"Whatever! Just try to be a normal teenage girl for once. Okay?"

She turned around and went to talk to her friends, leaving me standing alone in the middle of a sea of people. My stomach could've been punched by a million Erasers and it wouldn't had hurt as bad as it did then. Why couldn't I just be a normal teenager? You should know, Ella.

I was snapped out of my daze by a quick tapping on my shoulder.

I whipped my head around, instinctively in full-on Max-mode. To my surprise it was Josh! He was here! At my school! He was going to kill me and my family.

"Max?" he asked, smiling at my stance.

"Josh," I replied curtly, staring him down.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, immediately looking worried about me. Good actor, huh? Two can play at this game, buddy.

"Oh, nothing," I sighed, wondering how I could break him. Then I remembered something. "How'd you know my name's Max? I never told you."

"Uh, oh I, um," his eyes immediately flashed with worry, but then he went back into actor-Josh mode. "It was on your phone so I assumed your name was Max. Am I right?"

I gave him evil eyes and he squirmed under my glare. I whipped out my phone and held it in front of my face. He looked relieved and I wondered why, because I could see what was on my phone. No name.

"Sorry, Joshy," I cooed. "No name here."

He coughed.

"Uh, it's on the back."

I flipped it over and felt my face redden at the sight of a sparkly blue sticker with the letters M A X on it. Nudge.

"Who do you work for?" I spat. He was good. Real good.

He looked at me like I was a helplessly confused gnome person.

"What are you?" he asked. "A helplessly confused gnome person?"  
He was a mind reader too!

He laughed a little at his lame joke (I know I thought the same thing, but that's besides the point) then awkwardly stopped.

"Look," he calmed me, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'd just like to start over. Is that okay?"

I sighed, confused. Half of me wanted to start over and be friends, while the other side wanted to stab him and kill him and punch his brains out. Quite a dilemma if you ask me.

But maybe... I could satisfy all of Max. Or me. It's difficult to explain my thoughts to other people, so please bear with me. I could _pretend_ to be friends with him. That way- I can get to know all of his little secrets and finally defeat him! And he doesn't have to know _anything_ about me. Oh, this'll be _good._

"You know what?" I asked him, but really told him. It's one of those questions that you just don't answer. English is strange like that. "I think we _should_ start over. I'm Max."

He laughed and held out his hand.

"I'm f- finally... glad to see that you're okay," he stumbled. "My, uh, my name's Josh, though. Not anything else. Because if you thought it was something else then you'd be wrong. Because it isn't. Yeah..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. First thing to figure out about him- his name.

But before he could answer an alarm went off.

"U AND A IN 3, 2-" I was about to shout out to my flock when Josh grabbed me and put his hand over my mouth.

"AMPHGRRPHMA!" I tried to shout 'Get off me you horrible person!' (By the way, I wasn't saying 'horrible person', if you catch my drift...) but it wasn't very well heard.

No one noticed our little scene, since they were all running around too. With order, though, as if this were totally normal. Talk about unobservant.

"Max," Josh whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, but not loud enough for anyone else to, right in my ear. He slightly moved his hand from my mouth to my cheek, "That's the school bell. It means to go to your next class."

He couldn't see me, but with his hand (that really shouldn't have been) on my cheek, I'm sure he could feel my face burning up.

"Oh," I said, raising my chin a little to show authority, using my own hands to move his away from my body, "I'll just be going then."

He held onto them and brought me closer. And what does he say- having me so close to him? The way that me and Fang stood many times, so long ago?

"See ya, then."

I pulled away and marched up the stairs to find my next class, grabbing my binder in the process.

But, as I hard as I tried, I couldn't help but notice the fact that when he pulled me close and whispered in my ear, not only did my heart skip a beat but- I think I liked it.

* * *

So- get this- there's _actually_ a class about how to cook food and sew clothes. I mean- it's true. It's called "Home Ec" and my mom signed me up for it. Why you ask? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm trying to figure out the same question.

But after several lectures about how to succeed in high school and how to be a good student and all sorts of other boring stuff that'll never help me in ten years, I was ready to bake some darn pancakes.

The teacher's name was Mrs. Leaptop. She had short gray hair, delicate small glasses that rested just on the tip of her nose, the squeakiest voice I've ever heard that _didn't_ annoy me so much I wanted to cry and the most bizarre clothing choices. So, naturally, she was immediately added to my "List of Awesome Looking People." Do you have one of those? You should make one. They're quite helpful when Halloween rolls around.

"Today we're going to be making pancakes. Girls- you must put your hair up," she told us. I stifled a laugh. The class was _only_ girls except for the two boys in the back who I _swear_ I saw making "kissy faces" at each other. Now, now, don't go making assumptions. They could be practicing their roles in "A Sea of Fish."

We had to split up into groups- six groups to be exact. In my group were the two boys and a girl. The girl had jet black hair with brown and blonde highlights. As far as I could tell, her natural hair could've been red based on how many times it was dyed. She had rings. Many rings. Rings on all of her fingers, in her ears and in her nose. Her clothing was nothing but black. It wasn't scary black though- like with the lace and spiders, it was more of a normal black. Black skinny jeans, black converse, black tank top and a black sweatshirt that said "AEROPOSTALE" across it. What's that? A country?

The two boys were... different, to say the least. One had short red hair and little red lips. He wore a scarf around his neck and showcased uber long eyelashes. He introduced himself as Tom. The other had jet black hair that was shaped very strangely. A little wavy, a little straight, a little long, a little short. His hair just looked confused. Poor hair. He had a colorful rainbow of clothes. He called himself Charles. Apparently Tom was an amazing chef and Charles couldn't cook for the life of him. Oh the fun we will have.

"Alright guys," I said, once we were settled. "We're making pancakes. So who wants to go get the ingredients?"

Tom look super excited and was about to beg to go get ingredients before the girl cut him off.

"Who made you _boss_?" she asked.

I just looked at her. I've always been boss. It's who I am. Boss. And you _don't_ mess with the boss.

"No one but myself," I responded, "And that's good enough for me."

"Is it good enough for Josh? I've heard you've gotten pretty... _close_ with him..."

"I barely know him!"

Tom and Charles' eyes watched back and forth. One bag of popcorn and they would've looked like they were at the movies. The movie where the protagonist named Max defeats the antagonist named... well... I don't know her name. But that doesn't change the plot!

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Of course you don't. That's why you two were making out in the cafeteria."

"We were not making out!"

"Whatever. I'll go get the supplies," she told us, surprising me and disappointing Tom. He looked up at me with begging eyes and I just shrugged my shoulders.

When the girl returned she was only holding a bottle of syrup.

"Hey- we need a lot more supplies than- WHAT THE-!"

I was interrupted by the rush of sticky syrup penetrating, soaking and ruining my new shirt.

"You did _not_ just do that," I said, looking up at her, but not moving my head from it's fixed angle at my shirt and the syrup all over the ground.

"What?" she asked, "Too weak to fight back?"

She did not know what she got herself into.

I smirked.

"Hug?"

Her jaw dropped and she put up her fists.

I did the same.

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**A/N: So, the next chapter's already written so the minute I get ten reviews I'll post it! I promise! :D And if I don't get ten reviews, then don't expect anymore for this story... :O, I know. So... maybe get your friends to read? REVIEW!**

**(See? I'm getting better at this whole bribing thing! Except I mean it this time. 'Specially since I've been really busy...)**

**XD**

**LLAMAS!**


	9. Punishments, Mothers, and New Friends

**Shortest chapter so far in this story- but that's okay since I thought you'd like to read it anyways. Next chapter'll be good! :D**

**Oh, and by the way:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. If I did I would be dancing, YEAH!**

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By the end of my first day of school, I ended up sitting in the principal's office, covered in syrup. A girl lay unconscious in the room next to me. A girl that I had knocked out. I just couldn't _wait_ to get home and see the look on my mom's face.

"Max... Martinez?" a big voice demanded.

I hopped up off my chair and mentally prepared myself. Mom would be mad if I knocked out _one_ person. If I knocked out one person and _the_ _principal_ I think she'd have a heart attack.

I entered the room to see a large man. His skin matched Nudge's and he had the smallest and most precise perm just centimeters off his head. Now, I wouldn't usually notice his hair (Nudge and Ella on the other hand...), but it was fairly obvious since his back was facing me.

"Max, Max, Max," he said, still not turning around. "Take a seat."  
I was already sitting down, but he was probably used to people making a sound when they do things. I don't.

"First day of school and you're already in trouble, hmm?"

I coughed so I'd have an excuse not to respond.

"You know, for a boy who's so new at our school, I don't think it's too good to start your year out like this."

"Excuse me?"

He swiveled around, surprised at the sound of my voice.

"Oh, my dear, I'm sorry sweetie. I just- I thought- your name-"

"It's cool," I said rolling my eyes. "Just tell me what I did wrong what I'm going to have to do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

"Actually- I'm not big on the whole lecture thing. Just don't go punching other kids, okay?"

My jaw dropped.

"And, ah, don't go telling anyone I didn't give you a lecture either."

"Seriously? I'm off this easy after knocking another kid out?"

I was ecstatic. Maybe Mom didn't have to know after all!

"Yeah... no. You have to clean the cafeteria dishes after school every day, except for Friday, for the rest of the quarter."

Hear that toilet flushing? Yeah, that was my happiness.

"And on Friday?"

"On Friday you can clean out the girls' bathrooms. We just lost our only female janitor."

"And why can't the boy janitors do female bathroom cleaning?"

"Oh, they can."

"You're a cruel, cruel man."

"Says the one who's responsible for the unconscious girl next door."

"She started it! She squirted syrup all over my shirt!"

"Good day Miss Martinez. I hope to see you after school- washing dishes."

"Can't. Wait."

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"Look, Mom, it wasn't _that_ bad. Just a broken nose, a few bruised ribs, nothing time can't heal."

"Yeah, but time won't erase the memories! You can't go back and change what you've already done. The mistakes you've made can't be forgotten. The rest of the world will remember this day."

I rolled my eyes.

"Did you get those lyrics from a Dancing Monkeys song?"

"It really touched me. I thought that maybe- hey! No changing the subject young lady. Did the principal punish you?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I replied, "I have to clean dishes and bathrooms after school."

"Serves you right."

"I'm really feeling the love, Mom. Do you even care about what the girl did to me?"

"No," she answered, standing up and walking out of the room.

I groaned and fell onto the couch and closed my eyes. Maybe a good nap would make all this go away...

"MAX! MAX! MAX! MAX! MAX!"

And... yup. There it goes.

"What, what, what, what, what?" I asked the two excited girls in front of me.

"We made new friends!" Angel squealed.

"And not fake ones either!" Nudge added.

"Living breathing talking human friends," Angel finished.

"That's great," I said, hoping they would catch my drift and leave me alone to my sleep.

"And they invited us over to their house!"

"For a playdate!"

"Can we go?"

"Please, please, please, please, please?"

They definitely did _not_ catch my drift. Not even a little part of it. Not a little breeze. Couldn't they see I was in desperate need of Max-couch bonding time?

"Umm," I though about it. I wasn't really thinking about it, though. I mean, shouldn't they know by now that when they ask me if they can go to a complete stranger's house the chances of me saying "yes" are nil?

"I know you don't know them," Angel started.

"But we thought that maybe..."

"If you came with us..."

"Then you could, you know, _see_ if they're okay."

"And what if they're not?" I asked.

"I, uh," Nudge stammered, "I don't know."

She frowned and looked down.

"Max, please," Angel begged, "You know we never have a chance to live normal lives. Don't you know that every normal person has friends? All we want is a chance to get to know some new friends. _Please?_"

I closed my eyes. They were giving my the bambi eyes. I just knew it.

I opened my eyes just a speck to check and, of course, they were.

NO ONE CAN RESIST THE BAMBI EYES!

"I guess it couldn't hurt to _meet_ these people," I succumbed to their cuteness powers.

"Yay!" they squealed, smiling and high-fiving as if they had just won the lottery.

"But one sign of danger- one _little-" _

"We know, we know, Max," Angel interupted, grabbing Nudge by the wrist and dragging her upstairs.

I sighed and plopped down on the couch.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and...

"OH AND BY THE WAY MAX WE NEED TO GO, IN LIKE, FIVE MINUTES!"

Why does life hate me so much?

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**Oh, if only Max could see the _next _chapter.**

**But you will!**

**If you review...**

**So I highly suggest you do that... now!**

**And if you think about it, all you have to do is click two things with ur mouse and 4 buttons with ur keyboard.**

**CAN YOU STAND UP TO THE CHALLENGE?**

**Let's see, young padawon.**


	10. Dolls, Popcorn and a Movie

**So some people have been bugging me to update so VWOLA!, I am. This is a chapter that I've been debating on adding since it's kind of just a bunch of mish mash, but it's fun either way. Kind of like like reality TV. You know it's stupid, but it's fun either way.**

**OH! And I realized I hadn't been doing this:**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not JP. If I was, I certainly wouldn't be here, would I? I'd probably be in Florida. Swimming with dolphins. Named Bob and Sue since George is sick with diaherea. Not pretty.**"Okay, guys," I told the two excited girls who were flying behind me, "Let's land behind these trees so no one sees us."

* * *

So naturally, we swiftly landed in a pile of thorns and twigs.

"Ugh," Nudge complained, "Now I have thorns in my new sparkly shiiiiiiiiiirt."

"Stop complaining," I told her, "You used to be able to survive a _week_ in one torn up non-sparkly shirt. I think you can survive _this_."

Nudge frowned and plucked the branches off of her. It was around four o'clock and it was a nice, sunny day. Windy, but not cold. Perfect for flying. Too bad I was going to be supervising a play date for four little girls.

We walked up the porch to house 536 and rang the doorbell.

"If you see _anything_, and I mean _anything_ suspicious, we leave. Got it?"

"Got it," they replied, rolling their eyes.

Finally I heard footsteps and someone started to open the door.

My eyes bulged when I saw who it was. I turned on my heel, grabbed the girls' wrists and started to walk away.

"_Max,_" they whined, breaking free of my grasp and walking back up to the porch that _JOSH_ was standing on.

"I told you guys that if we saw _anything_ suspicious, like HIM, that we'd leave. Did you not hear me? I thought I said it quite clearly."

"We heard you," Angel responded, "And we agreed. But _he's_ not suspicious. You're just worried because you love-"

I slapped my hand over her mouth.

"I love... umm... cheese. Yeah, cheese. That's what I love. And the longer we stay here, the longer I'm away from my cheese. So let's go."

"Max," Nudge pleaded, "We really want to meet these girls. We never meet people. Well, we meet them, but we don't, you know, meet them, meet them. We only see them. And punch them. And kick them. You know what I mean. Ka-pow, right? But we want to make _real_ friends. Like, girls. Nice girls. Not robot girls. At least I hope. They're our age and we can actually DO stuff with them! Like give each other makeovers, read magazines, talk about boys-"

"Okay, okay," I interupted her. "I get it. Fine. Go. Have fun."

Angel looked at me.

"You have to come with us, you know. Your mom said so."

I closed my eyes. Of course I had to go. Why would things ever go my way?

"Right," I said, watching Angel and Nudge run upstairs with the two girls, and walking in, being sure to shove Josh with my shoulder on the way. But, now that I think about it, if he really IS evil, then getting close to him is what I need to do. I need him to THINK that we're friends so that way I can totally alienate him, find out who he's working for, and save the world!

_You need to do a lot more than that to save the world, Max,_ my voice rudely interrupted my thoughts.

"Shut up," I told it.

"I didn't say anything," Josh said, looking confused.

"I'm not talking to you," I told him with a glare.

"Oh, right, your voice," he said, nodding his head.

My eyes bulged. He knew about the voice. HE KNEW ABOUT THE VOICE!

But, of course, before I could say anything, that voice interrupted, again.

_If you want to save the world you need to dig deeper into yourself, Max, not other people_.

_If I could really dig deep into myself,_ I told it, _I'd pull you out._

_Just think about it._

_But... I don't get it. What do you _mean_ "dig deeper into myself?"_

No response.

Typical.

"So?" Josh asked, "You want some water?"

I ignored his question.

"How did you know about my voice?" I asked him.

"Oh..." he said, his eyes looking nervous. "It's, umm, it's on a website, that I read."

"What website?"

"Oh, you know, the one, about the Flock, and stuff," he replied.

"You were looking me up on the internet?"

"I was, umm, I just stumbled on to it."

_Sure_ he did. And I live a normal life.

But, friends. Got to remember that. Friends.

"Umm, right. So, yeah, I'd like a glass of water."

"Okay, I'll go get one for you."

"Great," I said with a fake smile.

As soon as he turned the corner into the kitchen I started scanning the room for hidden cameras or microphones.

I got up and looked around the big TV, but there was nothing. The cabinets were completely empty too. Then I noticed some dolls lying around. Sure, to an untrained eye they'd seem harmless, but to a super-spy like me, I know that they'd be the perfect hiding place for something sneaky.

I started scanning the dolls, ripping off their jackets and shoes for where microphones might lie. It wasn't until I picked up my seventh blonde-haired beauty that I found what I was looking for. It was a doll, but right on it's back was a mini speaker.

I knew there was something wrong with that boy.

I started to rip out the speakers when a tap on my shoulder startled me and made me drop it.

"I see you're a fan of the talking Barbie doll, huh?" Josh asked me.

I mentally slapped myself. Of course. It wasn't a secret facility microphone- it was a _talking Barbie doll._

"How 'bout some popcorn to cheer you up?" Josh asked. I rolled my eyes. Whatever amount of popcorn he brought was probably enough to fill up 1% of my stomach, because that's all humans eat. Well, whatever. 1% is better than 0%.

I turned around and was very pleasantly surprised when I realized he was carrying five GIANT bowls of completely buttered popcorn.

"Woo..." I mused, "You eat that much?"  
"Nah, just thought you might be hungry," he replied, sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion next to him. I hungrily sat down and grabbed two bowls, resting each on a thigh.

His house was pretty cool. There was the big green sofa that we were sitting on, and a big cabinet structure across from us, with shelves for DVD's, books, plants, dolls and right in the middle was a giant TV. The house was kind of small, though; and there wasn't an adult to be seen, and based on the mess, there hasn't been one to be seen in a long, long time. _Another_ thing that made him suspicious.

"So," I said between mouthfuls of popcorn, "What do you like to do? So I can find you and kill you and figure how to annihilate you."

I didn't say that last part. But I certainly thought it.

"Well," he replied, "I like swimming and watching movies and stuff. Movies like... this one."

He pulled out a DVD from behind his back. I grabbed it from his hands. It was called Fly Away and it was a romantic comedy about a boy and a girl- with wings.

I felt tears form in my eyes and handed the movie back to him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, looking genuinely worried.

"No, it's just," I looked up at him, "I just got out of a... relationship and... I still miss him."

He closed his eyes angrily and seemed to be debating with himself.

"BUT I LOVE HER!" he shouted.

"Who?" I asked, a little startled.

"Oh," he said, looking at me as if he'd just come out of a daze.

"My, uh, my mom. I recently lost her and the memories keep playing back in my head."

Something about that didn't sound right to me. I mean, if his mom just died, wouldn't be a little more upset about it?

"Anyways," he said, "How 'bout this movie?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

He got up, turned off the lights and put in the movie. The screen turned blue and played loud music. He sat down next to me and grabbed a blanket, and held it up to me as if asking a question.

I shook my head, I was a little cold, but I didn't want to seem weak in front of a potential enemy, but he put the blanket over me anyways.

I shivered comfortably under the blanket and munched on the popcorn nonchalantly.

During the movie I forgot about who I was with and what I was doing and just enjoyed watching the movie, and, the thing was, I kind of liked having Josh's warm body right next to mine. It was so nice to feel protected and comfortable again, even if by a potential enemy. It was the first time in ages that I felt that way, and laughing along to the movie was so... refreshing after a long period of sadness.

The thing was, though, that the movie reminded me so much of Fang. But, it didn't make me sad, it made me kind of... happy. Remembering him. It felt like he was right there with me.

When the movie was over and the credits started to play with the cheesy music, I looked up at Fang and smiled, then quickly shook my head when I realized I was still sitting by Josh.

He smiled back. Idiot.

Then I vaguely remembered the girls skipping downstairs and asking for a sleepover during the movie. Why had I said yes?

"You look tired," Josh said.

"You're psychic, really," I told him drily with a yawn. Then, despite my prevail my eyes started to close. I tried to keep them open but they just kept closing.

"G'night, Max," Josh told me. But before I could tell him to go to Idaho, marry a potato and never come back, I fell asleep. Right there on his big green couch.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and be prepared for Max's reaction when she wakes up the next morning. :D**

**AND, just to let you know, I'm psychic and I can see your future: You will live in Idaho, marry a potato and be addicted to Twilight movies. But if you REVIEW you will be very successful and live a long, happy life. So, take it from a psychic, you should definately write me a review.**

**ADIOS UNTIL NEXT TIME AMIGOS!**


	11. A Confession

** A/N: OH! So _this_ is what fanfiction looks like! I sort of forgot since I haven't updated in so long. Sorry about that! I'll save you my excuse, because it will just waste time. **

** But if you desperately want to know... Elephants rampaged into my house, crushing into pieces, then, some how, I stumbled onto a teleporter which took me to Africa. After riding around on giraffes all day, the government found me and took me into custody. While locked up in Giraffe Prison (I said government, not African-government. The Giraffe-government found me and locked me up.) I met a friend whose name I'm not allowed to expose. (It was Joe.) I should have known Joe was an alien by his green skin and antennae, but, hey, we've all got our ugly features. Then Joe took me to his home planet by UFO, where I stayed for several months. Finally, the humans came with their rocket ships and all, saving me from the strange society of Plant 51. They took me home and got me back here, safe and sound. Then they fixed up my house to look exactly the same as it was before so I can write the next chapter of this story.**

** ...**

** Wow. I am _so _good at coming up with believable excuses.**

** Now onto the story!**

** Disclaimer: Despite all of the promises stars, candles and 11:11 lead me to believe, I do not own Maximum Ride nor any of the characters affiliated with Maximum Ride. I do kind of own the prospect of Josh though. Yay.**

* * *

**JPOV**

I put my arm around Max as she fell asleep. I smiled, just like old times.

Yes, it's true, for those of you who might have predicted it, my name's not actually Josh. In fact, I don't know _what_ my name is to tell you the truth, but I know what Max has called me for the past fourteen years of my life, and that's Fang. It's true, it's me, Fang. How's it going?

Just to let you know, I never _wanted_ to be here. This is _so_ not what I _wanted_, but it's what I got. If only I were allowed to tell Max who I was, the man she fell in love with, and how I got here. But I couldn't. Not unless I wanted her to die. But she _had_ to know, or she might eventually die anyways.

_Don't do it, Fang_, an annoying voice in my head told me, _Don't put the savior of the world in danger._

_I know,_ I snarled at it in my mind.

As if this whole "being Josh" thing wasn't torture enough, I had to get some annoying voice in my head to go along with it, telling me what to do and stuff. How did Max ever survive this?

The worst part is, I had to "act". They told me that if I talked more and stopped being so emo (even _they _call me emo. I AM NOT EMO, OKAY?) then they wouldn't kill the Flock. Not like they could actually do that, but I'd never put them in danger. Ever.

I stroked Max's shimmering hair, loving the way her smile was just lying on her beautiful face.

Then she started to stir, her arms stretching out above her head. She wrapped them around my neck and I felt my breathing start to quicken and my heart start to beat.

_Don't say anything, don't do anything,_ I told myself.

She brought her face up to mine, her eyes still closed and sleepily whispered, "_Fang._"

She was dreaming of me. She was so adorable!

Wait- I'm a guy. I mean, uh, she was so hot. Yeah, that's it.

Then she kissed me. I closed my eyes and tried to pull away but I missed the taste of her sweet lips, I missed the smell of being so _close_ to her.

So I kissed her back. I kissed her back with everything I had, everything I missed, everything I feared, everything I loved. I felt her fingers runs through my hair, though, it didn't feel the same as it used too since I had different hair now.

Ugly hair.

After several minutes of careful thinking, I pried away from her, one hand on her back, one on the back of her neck, laying her on the couch.

I got up and headed for the kitchen.

It was times to put years of knowing Iggy to work.

* * *

**Next chapter next year!**

**But... maybe next week if I get enough reviews?**

***wink wink, hint hint, nudge nudge***

**So... review! For the sake of Fang.**

**Who I have currently locked up in my room.**

**Fang, say something to the people.**

_**Fang: Review.**_

_**Me: Good boy. -throws jellybean at-**_

_**Fang: -awesomely catches jellybean in mouth-**_

**See, I've got him trained.**

**So review! Because Fang tells you too!**


End file.
